Ae Marika! 25 June 2013

Posted on June 25, 2013 by admin in Ae Marika

20 odd years ago a lady came all the way in to Kaitaia from Te Hapua to get a Special Needs Grant from the Labour Department … only to be told that the appointment had been changed and she’d have to come back another day. Well, the poor lady had no money for kai for the house, not even enough for gas to get home. She was in tears, but everybody seemed to be too busy to help.

Anyway this woman working at the Labour Department at the time tried to get help for this lady, but nothing … and she felt really embarrassed about what a cold-hearted place her department had become. So you know what she did? She gave this lady some of her own money and told her to pay her back next time she came to town. And she did stuff like that many times. Most times they paid her back, sometimes with money, sometimes with kai, sometimes with both, always with love and gratitude.

That woman was Bonnie Conrad. She was a very special lady. And she died on the weekend.

Bonnie smoked too much, she gambled too much, and she yelled too much, but she also cared too much, she helped others too much, she gave too much, and she loved people in a way that you just don’t see anymore.

When they threatened to shut down Rugby League back in the day, I roped Bonnie in because she was tough, she was honest, and everyone trusted her. Whenever one of the boys or their whanau was in trouble, Bonnie would pull their files and we’d work out how to help them.

In fact, whenever anyone needed a hand it was always Bonnie I turned to first. Bonnie would give when the rest of the world stopped giving. I always thought that if I had the power, I would put Bonnie (and Katie Murray) in charge of all benefits in the far north and we’d straighten up the world before Xmas.

When she moved home Bonnie was the first person I rang in Te Kao for anything and everything. She took over the shop and got listed in the world’s biggest travel magazine for world famous ice-creams and her ever smiling service. The Te Kao store became an icon under her management and the Te Kao community a better place because of it.

Bonnie was a very special person, the likes of which we will never see again. May her memory endure and her example guide us long into the future. Haere e te rangatira, haere.

AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at www.mana.net.nz.